The syndicated newsmagazines thrive on stories about troubled twentysomething like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, so you might expect the shows to attract viewers of a similar age.
Not so.
As it turns out, the folks who watch these shows are just as likely to be their parents. All but one have median ages of 50 or over.
And they’re getting older still. The shows have aged an average 3.2 years since the 2003-’04 season, according to Nielsen data recently crunched by Horizon Media.
Just why is no mystery.
These days younger viewers who might have watched these shows a decade ago are turning instead to the internet and sites like TMZ.com and Perez Hilton for their celebrity gossip, driving up the age of the remaining audience.
“Inside Edition” was the oldest-skewing newsmagazine during the recently ended 2007-’08 season at 55.3 years, nearly a year older than “Entertainment Tonight,” the top-rated syndicated gossip show, at 54.4.
“The Insider” was next at 53.3, followed by “Access Hollywood” at 50.5, the first time it’s cracked the half-century mark.
The only show younger than 50 is “TMZ,” the TV spinoff of the snide AOL-backed gossip site, with an average age of 42.2. It just launched this past year.
Four years ago, only one of the shows, “Inside Edition,” had a median age over 51.
Certainly TV in general has been aging the past few years as audiences get older and younger viewers turn to other media, but it's been more so for the gossip shows. Over these same several years, shows like “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” have aged a year or less.
The gossip shows have also recorded sharp declines in their average household and adults 18-49 ratings.
By contrast, sites like Perez Hilton and TMZ, which didn’t exist four years ago, now pull millions of visitors per month. Perezhilton.com ranks in the top 500 sites monitored by internet ratings service Quantcast, which estimates the site’s monthly U.S. traffic at 3.4 million, more than half of them ages 18-34.
TMZ.com draws 3.6 million monthly visitors, according to Quantcast, 78 percent of them adults 18-49.
***
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended July 13, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 3.24 million tuning in and among viewers 25-54 with a 0.9 rating. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” was second in viewers with 2.4 million and among 25-54s with a 0.7, with CBS’s “Face the Nation” pulling 2.18 million viewers and a 0.6 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” averaged 1.19 million viewers and a 0.4 rating among 25-54s.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 4.6 million total viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Nightline” had 3.4 million viewers and a 1.0 rating in the demo, with CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” (in reruns) bringing in 2.9 million viewers and a 0.8 18-49 rating. In late-late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 1.8 million total viewers and a 0.6 in 18-49s, with ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (in reruns) at 1.5 million viewers and a 0.5, CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” (in reruns) at 1.4 million viewers and a 0.5, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” (in reruns) bringing in 1.0 million viewers and a 0.4 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 4.8 million total viewers and a 3.7 household rating and 14 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 3.9 million viewers and a 3.0/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.4 million total viewers and a 1.8/7.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 3.49 million viewers, but was tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.1 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.96 million viewers, but ranked first among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.54 million and tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.1 rating.
In evening network news for the week ended July 20, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first among total viewers, averaging 7.23 million, and among 25-54s with a 1.9 average rating. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was second in viewers, averaging 7.22 million, and in 25-54s with a 1.8 rating, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 5.53 million total viewers and a 1.3 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending July 13, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.3 |
7 |
0.9
|
3.242 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
1.8 |
6 |
0.7 |
2.400 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
1.6 |
5 |
0.6 |
2.176 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
0.8 |
3 |
0.4 |
1.189 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending July 13, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
4.6 |
1.2 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.4 |
1.0 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman* |
CBS |
2.9 |
0.8 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
1.8 |
0.6 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live* |
ABC |
1.5 |
0.5 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson* |
CBS |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly* |
NBC |
1.0 |
0.4 |
|
Source: NTI
* in reruns this week
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending July 13, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
3.7 |
14 |
4.8 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.0 |
12 |
3.9 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
1.8 |
7 |
2.4 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending July 13, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.49 |
1.1 |
|
ABC |
2.96 |
1.3 |
|
NBC |
2.54 |
1.1 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending July 20, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.9 |
7.228 |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
1.8 |
7.215 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.3 |
5.527 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending July 13, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
6.5
|
7368
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
5.8
|
6489
|
|
3
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.7
|
5247
|
|
4
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
4.6
|
5172
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.2
|
4786
|
|
6
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.9
|
4437
|
|
7
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4255
|
|
8
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.7
|
4145
|
|
9
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.6
|
4045
|
|
10
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.5
|
3985
|
|
11
|
LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.3
|
3673
|
|
12
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.1
|
3506
|
|
13
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
3
|
